A Short Life of Abraham Lincoln eBook

displayed in party controversy and executive direction.
The quick proficiency and ready aptitude for leadership
evidenced by him in this, as it may be called, his
preliminary parliamentary school are strikingly proved
by the fact that the Whig members of the Illinois
House of Representatives gave him their full party
vote for Speaker, both in 1838 and 1840. But
being in a minority, they could not, of course, elect
him.

IV

Lincoln’s removal from New Salem to Springfield
and his entrance into a law partnership with Major
John T. Stuart begin a distinctively new period in
his career, From this point we need not trace in detail
his progress in his new and this time deliberately
chosen vocation. The lawyer who works his way
up in professional merit from a five-dollar fee in
a suit before a justice of the peace to a five-thousand-dollar
fee before the Supreme Court of his State has a long
and difficult path to climb. Mr. Lincoln climbed
this path for twenty-five years with industry, perseverance,
patience—­above all, with that sense of moral
responsibility that always clearly traced the dividing
line between his duty to his client and his duty to
society and truth. His unqualified frankness
of statement assured him the confidence of judge and
jury in every argument. His habit of fully admitting
the weak points in his case gained their close attention
to its strong ones, and when clients brought him bad
cases, his uniform advice was not to begin the suit.
Among his miscellaneous writings there exist some fragments
of autograph notes, evidently intended for a little
lecture or talk to law students which set forth with
brevity and force his opinion of what a lawyer ought
to be and do. He earnestly commends diligence
in study, and, next to diligence, promptness in keeping
up his work.

“As a general rule, never take your whole fee
in advance,” he says, “nor any more than
a small retainer. When fully paid beforehand,
you are more than a common mortal if you can feel
the same interest in the case as if something was
still in prospect for you as well as for your client.”
“Extemporaneous speaking should be practised
and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue
to the public. However able and faithful he may
be in other respects, people are slow to bring him
business if he cannot make a speech. And yet,
there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than
relying too much on speech-making. If any one,
upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption
from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure
in advance. Discourage litigation. Persuade
your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.
Point out to them how the nominal winner is often
a real loser—­in fees, expenses, and waste
of time. As a peacemaker, the lawyer has a superior